Turning Point: la guerra in Vietnam

Another exceptionally objective docuseries from the new master of historical shows.

As a Brit, I can appreciate that my reaction and perspective to this series & the Vietnam war in general is wildly different from anyone in the US. Conversely, since my country opted not to engage in the conflict, we weren't really educated on it any real detail - so broadly speaking, even as a bit of a history dweeb, I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to any of the decades-long western battles against communism.

That's why I'm especially grateful to the talents of Brian Knappenberg.

Rather than portraying 9/11, the Cold War or in this latest fine entry into his canon as a 'rah! Rah! America!' Indulgence, he's proactively evenhanded, fair & draws remarkably detailed and articulate accounts from people who were really there. Yet despite the density of information & intelligence with which it's done, it's still accessible to even a Luddite like me.

It's powerful, powerful stuff - and while I can absolutely 100% appreciate that this must be deeply grating for a lot of those in the states, as a fascinated outsider? It's quite an excellent entry into the mountains of existing work covering this engrossingly chaotic period in modern human history.

Bravo.

After Ken Burns' magisterial and monumental 18-hour deep dive into the Vietnam War, you'd think there'd be nothing left to say. But "Turning Point: The Vietnam War" on Netflix proves there's still room for new voices, especially from both North and South Vietnam, that bring fresh, essential perspectives to this complex and chaotic chapter of history. The series is balanced, detailed without dragging, and as harrowing as any account of America's decades-long misadventure. Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, this story remains urgent and deeply unsettling. Like Brian Knappenberger's earlier "Turning Point" series on 9/11 and the Cold War, it's clear-eyed, unflinching, and committed to telling the truth, warts and all. It's definitely a worthy watch.

I have been a Netflix subscriber for years and years and this has to be the best documentary I have ever seen. It is so thoughtful and through, and honest.

I remember sitting in the high school auditorium with all the other male seniors to sign up for the Selective Service in 1972. The representative where really honest with us. It was during the time when the draft was based on the lottery system. They told us if your number was 100 or less, you would be drafted, if it was about 100, no worries. Mine was in 343.

I had to possibility of participating in history, but too dimwitted to understand what it meant.

Now I know, and the knowing makes me feel ashamed for our country.

Best line in the documentary is "We are the United States of Amnesia". Ain't it so, all you can do is weep.

This is a must watch, even for people that do not live in this country.

There have been several documented series covering the subject matter over the decades , but this one ( in my humble opinion ) is the most concise . It doesn't skirt around the truth and in particular the lies from both sides . And there were lots of falsehoods by both and successive administrations about what was being done " over there " . Episodes three and four encapsulated the worst of what was being carried out , both in Vietnam and in America in 1968 . I'm disappointed that the producers didn't critique the over promoted and utterly hopeless Westmorland in more detail , as he more or less brought the whole thing to its knees and cost the lives of thousands of American servicemen and woman , not to mention the millions of Vietnamese civilians who were brutalised on a daily basis . The delicious irony of including the biggest draft dodger in history , John Wayne , was not lost on me.

A series for the ages.

Therefore the first question will be: is it worth to watch?

To make it short: Yes, today more than some years ago It is of course primarily from an US point of view, in spite of several Vietnamese interview partners.

Does it miss possibly important details as some critics here argue? Most likely as all major conflicts have deeper roots and more sideways as you have footage to make a documentary about, but IMHO the series provides such a plethora of footage that most of us will see something new and disturbing.

The Vietnam War, as many conflicts before and afterward are presented as an array of conflicting political and military decisions, when in the end they are just killing humans on both sides for no reason. 50 years from now we'll see a similar documentary about the Ukraine, if free speech is still possible.